Call Number:

MC.950.327

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.02 linear ft. (1 folder)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

"An Account of a Visit to the Indians in the Autumn of 1806" (HC.MC.950-327), Quaker and Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA

Date:

1807

Creator:

Bonsall, Isaac and Barclay, David, 1729-1809

Form:

Correspondence

Abstract:

This collection is comprised of a single letter from David Barclay to Charles Lloyd dated 1807 June 24, which includes "An account of a visit to the Indians in the Autumn of 1806, by one of the Pennsylvania Committee appointed to promote their Civilization" by Isaac Bonsall.

Isaac Edward Bonsall (1765-1831) was a Philadelphia Quaker minister, missionary and the first superintendent of Friends Hospital (originally the Asylum for Persons Deprived of the Use of their Reason). Bonsall served as a representative to meetings around the eastern seaboard, and in 1803, 1806, and 1823, visited Indigenous communities in Western New York, Western Pennsylvania, and Ohio as part of his work with the Indian Committee of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

David Barclay (1729-1809), also known as David Barclay of Youngsbury or David Barclay of Walthamstow, was a British Quaker merchant and banker. In 1794, Barclay manumitted 30 enslaved people in Jamaica and arranged for their travel to Philadelphia, where they received support from the Pennsylvania Abolition Society.

The Indian Committee of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) began in 1795 and continues at the present time. Previous to this, Philadelphia area Friends formed the Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures. The "Friendly Association" grew out of the violence of the French-Indian War of the mid-1700s and was active as a formal organization from around 1755 to 1764.

Work of the Indian Committee included teaching Native American people and their children, monitoring legislation affecting First Nations, and helping them combat frauds and abuses. The Committee worked primarily with the Seneca Nation on the Allegany and Cattaraugus Reservations in New York. Earliest work was with Cornplanter on both sides of the border in Pennsylvania and New York. Work was centered at Quaker Bridge ("Tunesassa"), New York, where Friends established a boarding school in 1852 adjacent to the Allegany Reservation. Friends Indian School operated as a boarding school for Native American children until 1938. The completion of the Kinzua Dam (Allegheny Reservoir) led to the flooding of much of the Allegany Reservation and the evacuation of Seneca families. Philadelphia Friends were active in helping the Seneca Nation fight the construction of the Kinzua Dam.

In 2022, the Committee's name was changed to the Quaker Fund for Indigenous Communities Granting Group.

This collection is comprised of a single letter from David Barclay to Charles Lloyd dated 1807 June 24. In addition to a letter discussing the campaigns and subscriptions of antislavery Parliament candidates William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, Barclay encloses "An account of a visit to the Indians in the Autumn of 1806, by one of the Pennsylvania Committee appointed to promote their Civilization" by Isaac Bonsall.

Bonsall's account describes improvements made by Seneca people residing near the Allegheny and Cattaraugus Rivers since the last visit of the Committee in 1803, including new roads, houses, and crops; gender dynamics; and the consumption of "ardent spirits."